The most common meat eaten on Xmas Day is oven cooked turkey. Research has shown that more than 8 in 10 of English families would only eat oven cooked turkey and everything else that goes with it at Christmas, nothing else will do!

A family sized turkey must be cooked thoroughly as there is potential for those that are to eat the meat to contract salmonella. If the bird is frozen it must be defrosted properly before cooking.

Nearly all shop turkeys are now oven prepared, no need to remove the insides or pluck feathers. The only thing that needs doing is removing the giblets from inside the carcass. The giblets should not, however, be just thrown away. They should be boiled in a saucepan to make very tasty gravy stock or the liver can be used finely chopped in stuffing.

If the turkey is going to be stuffed the turkey will take much longer to cook to a specific interior temperature and time must be allowed for this. Cooking times will also be increased if the legs are trussed up inside the bird. Streaky bacon should be placed over the breast of the turkey and the whole bird should be wrapped in aluminium foil. The foil should only be removed when the carcass is fully cooked to crisp and brown off the skin.. And don’t fprget the gravy boat for that perfect turkey gravy.

Use a large cooking tray and make sure it is big enough to collect all the juices that seep out. Place the pan on the lower shelf of the oven, not too hot, as the turkey will not cook properly on the inside if not place on the bottom shelf or in an oven that is too hot. Dark meat takes a lot longer to cook than light meat so make sure that the dark meat part of the turkey is placed at the back of the oven where it is usually hotter. The best chopping board will accommodate a full size bird.

Make sure that family and friends have been invited round well in advance of the big day and on Xmas Eve make sure that preparations are well advanced. An early start will be needed to Christmas Day to make sure everything is cooking prior to the meal. When the roast turkey is cooked, serve everything up and enjoy. The dishes can be washed later!

Coleman Heater

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